"The first of my epic Union troops - pictures!" Topic

First two Union units painted and number three will be done by end of today, with the rebs a grand total of 360 infantry and four guns in two weeks, now that is pretty epic.

Including time spent cutting down all those hats to kepis the Yanks are coming in around the same as the Rebs at about 4.5 hours per 60 figure unit .Not bad going?

Cheers,
Lee.

Great work. Some impressive painting and basing.

Wow! Makes me want to grab a box and start painting.

That's very nice work.

You should be proud.

Dave

Nice. Thanks for posting. Yes, the basing sets off the great painting.

Very impressive!! What are your colour combos for them?

WOW!

One thing – the basing space between the Warlord stands – I wonder why they didn't design the strips to fit as flush (without rubbing) as possible?

These are great looking, and super-productivity on these Lee!

Great job

On the subject of basing and the gaps: last weekend I finished my first 5 stands of Epic (Confederates). In order to reduce the gaps in question, I trimmed the outside few millimeters off the ends of each base, and the resulting strips fit nicely onto 55mm bases that I cut from 3/4" steel strapping (scrap from a lumber yard). Of course any basing material would work.

The difference between 60mm and 55mm doesn't sound like a lot, but the reduction in gap is noticeable. It also means that I will be able to fit twelve bases in the frontage occupied by eleven of the supplied stands. I'm always on the lookout for ways to give my troops more maneuver room to their flanks.

(Sorry, no pics, setting up a blog is one of those things that I always mean to do but never get around to doing.)

Thank you for the comments all :) To address a few:

Gaps in the basing: I agree it is slightly annoying. I did consider cutting the pegs in the base and shifting the two outer bases slightly inwards. I saw this done on a video and it did make a big difference in line, but in column not so good. I like the idea of just using 50mm bases, I can see that would work well. I may not yet be done with the basing yet because I bought the set with the intention of cutting each strip in half for basing in 10's for use with Fire & Fury, the old brigade edition. I cut a couple of strips in half but not perfect, workable but not perfect.

Paints used: keeping it really simple, I'm an all Vallejo man so paints in order used are: Deep Prussian Blue jacket, Azure trousers (this is a perfect shade for Union trousers!), Flat brown musket butts and backs, odd beards, Flat Flesh, gunmetal/ silver barrels, Flat Red for the odd blanket roll, just to add a splash of colour, pick out the odd canteen strap with a fine white line, green base and job about down. Only once glued down do I then add highlights to the dark blue where I can see it, this is again the Prussian blue with a touch of Azure added, touch kepis, shoulders and upper backs. Hope this helps.

Lee.

Full painting guide for the Rebs on the blog :)

napoleonictherapy.blogspot.com

Gotta say, those do look great en masse! Tempted to buy….must resist….

Is there any chance they will make USA and CSA with bayonets like they have apparently done with the Zouaves and Iron Brigade? ACW troops just don't look right to me if they don't.

ACW troops just don't look right to me if they don't.

Actually these are more correct. You didn't see bayonets attached on units in line, unless the enemy was closing in. During the standard engagements, bayonets were kept in their scabbard at the ready just in case, however a bayonet on the end of a 4' long arm tends to make it more inaccurate during firing.

"…a bayonet on the end of a 4' long arm tends to make it more inaccurate during firing."

And a whole bunch more fun to reload – OUCH! Sarge, do I need all my fingers?

Very nice work.

I did notice the fact that the Zouaves have fixed bayonets but these do not.

@Murphy: back in my re enactment days I did notice just how much a bayonet affects the balance of the piece and also the loading and firing process. I can imagine that in the heat of real battle that could have been an issue so excellent point :)

Lee.

Great work Lee! Have you really cut back a load of slouch hats to make them all Kepis? If so mega-respect!

Oh man, these look so good! I have all of my sprues primed, this is such a great inspiration to get going on mine! Thanks for sharing…

Wot Murphy said.

And you did a great job painting these figures, too…

Eric

@ Mollinary: yes indeed Andrew, every slouch hat has had the brims trimmed off! THing is that the upper part when 3D designed has used the same 'topper' luckily so it kind of works. Bit precarious using a scalpel but no fingers lost so far :)

Thank you Baranovich and enjoy painting yours.

epturner, thank you :)

Lee.

Thanks for the paint references and link! Great work.

Great paint job!